


Shall Come To Thee

by Crowgirl



Series: On the Strength of the Evidence [45]
Category: Grantchester (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Not Beta Read, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-11 23:57:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12946833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crowgirl/pseuds/Crowgirl
Summary: After midnight services.





	Shall Come To Thee

Ben’s quiet, an unmoving mound under the bedclothes, when Leonard slips into the bedroom at some dreadful hour after eleven at night on Christmas Eve and before five in the morning on Christmas Day. Checking the time would involve turning on a light or finding a match and looking at the clock and the thought of exerting even _that_ much more effort is exhausting. 

He gets out of his clothes as quickly and quietly as he can, dropping them in a messy heap on the chair by the chest of drawers and fumbles the stud back into his collar before dropping that on top. He finds his pajamas by touch on top of the bureau and pulls them on, shivering at the brush of the cold cloth.

Ben murmurs and rolls towards him when Leonard lifts the covers to slide beneath. 

‘Sorry -- I’m sorry, don’t wake up…’ Leonard whispers, leaning over to kiss Ben’s temple. ‘Father Christmas will be here in the morning.’

Ben chuckles, half-asleep, and drapes himself along Leonard’s side, one thigh across Leonard’s knees, his arm over Leonard’s abdomen. Ben habitually sleeps in a vest and pajama bottoms and just now he’s so warm and comfortable-feeling that Leonard wants to burrow under him as if Ben were part of the bedclothes. ‘How was it?’

‘How was what?’ Leonard turns towards him, sliding an arm under Ben’s pillow and easing down into the bed so they’re nearly nose to nose. He can smell sleep-warm skin with a faint tang of clean sweat and toothpaste and he closes his eyes with a sigh of appreciation.

‘The...service.’ Ben yawns. 

‘Oh -- fine. Fine. It was fine.’ Leonard’s sure he’ll hear all about what hadn’t been fine from Mrs Maguire tomorrow; apart from the actual sermon itself, she’s of much more use as a critic than Sidney. Just now, he’s too sleepy to worry about if the holly sprays had been in the right places with regard to the candles or if elderly Mrs Dinard had been both flat and late in the last chorus of ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.’

‘Mmm…’ Ben pats sleepily at Leonard’s chest. ‘Said it would be.’ 

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a long day in a long week in a long month in a long year and I just needed something small to go right.
> 
> @onlysound was kind enough to help me with that.
>
>> Not sure if it's appropriate for a random person to respond, so disregard as needed, but Leonard comes home to Daniel after midnight Xmas mass?
>> 
>> — Katie (@onlysound) [December 8, 2017](https://twitter.com/onlysound/status/938922768145543168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> The title _is_ almost as long as the fic and comes [from the lyrics to the hymn mentioned.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Come,_O_Come,_Emmanuel)
> 
> I picture this taking place in the late 1950s/early 1960s and, no, I don't know where Sidney is. Wherever Geordie is, I imagine. If anyone has a prompt for that, do please share!


End file.
